I am The Liar. On May 22nd, 2010, my colleague and I received a mission to go on a stakeout for a con man. This con man's name was Zhang Huanan.
He was extremely cunning and had several prior offenses. What made it even more difficult was that Zhang Huanan had exceptionally skilled counter-surveillance awareness and had escaped police dragnets several times. In this current fraud case, Zhang Huanan was quickly listed as one of the main suspects, so my colleague and I were assigned to watch him day and night.
"Captain Li, want one?"
Xiao Liu took out my favorite Cordyceps Sinensis cigarettes from his pocket. He wasn't a rich man, but he always liked to carry around a pack of cigarettes that cost over fifty yuan. He usually didn't smoke them himself, but would offer me one every now and then.
"Xiao Liu, how much do you make a month?"
I didn't take the cigarette. Instead, I pulled out a pack of Red General from my own pocket. Eight yuan a pack, cheap and strong.
"Two thousand seven hundred," Xiao Liu said.
"Don't you know, Captain Li?"
"You make two thousand seven hundred a month and you're smoking Cordyceps Sinensis?"
I stuck a General in my mouth, and Xiao Liu quickly offered me a lighter.
"Captain Li, what are you talking about..."
Xiao Liu quickly said with a placating smile.
"How could I afford to smoke Cordyceps Sinensis? I keep these for you..."
I shook my head helplessly and said to him, "We're detectives. Whoever solves cases is the one who's awesome. You should learn less of that workplace politics stuff."
"Yes, yes... You're right, Captain Li."
Xiao Liu put the Cordyceps Sinensis back in his pocket and took out a six-yuan pack of Changbai Mountain for himself.
"Aren't I learning how to solve cases from you right now?"
To be honest, Xiao Liu was very smart and a quick learner. I heard he was always at the top of his class at the police academy. But I don't know how his parents raised him; at such a young age, he had learned all the greasy ways of bureaucracy.
As soon as he joined the force, he gave us veterans a headache.
"Captain Li, do you think we can really catch that Zhang Huanan by staking him out?"
"Well..."
I thought for a moment.
"Why do you care so much? The higher-ups told us to wait here, so all we have to do is follow orders."
We parked the car across the street from Zhang Huanan's house, focusing all our attention on the only entrance and exit. This kind of stakeout usually involved a two-person team, so one person could rest while the other took over.
But we didn't know how long we'd have to wait here, and the agony of the unknown invisibly increased our craving for cigarettes.
"If I'd known, I would've brought a pair of underwear..."
Xiao Liu said.
"What for? You planning to change your underwear here, kid?"
"Haha!"
Xiao Liu laughed without a care.
"Just kidding, Captain Li. Another one?"
We chain-smoked in the confined space. Since we didn't dare to open the car windows, the inside of the car quickly became hazy. Xiao Liu would turn on the air conditioner every so often to ventilate, otherwise, in this environment, the chance of getting lung cancer was nearly one hundred percent.
A whole day passed, and neither of us had closed our eyes. Because I was used to staying up late, I felt I could still handle it, but Xiao Liu was already drowsy.
"You should rest for a bit," I said.
"I can keep watch by myself."
"Captain Li... is that okay... You haven't rested yet, how can I sleep first..."
Although he was trying to sound tough, his eyelids were already fighting to stay open.
"It's fine, go to sleep. I'll wake you up later tonight."
Not even twenty seconds passed before Xiao Liu's snores began. It seemed the kid was exhausted. After confirming he was sound asleep, I slowly took out my phone from my pocket and looked at the unread text messages.
Three of the four messages were from Xuanxuan.
"Dad, are you coming home for dinner tonight?"
"Dad, Grandma said you're on a mission these two days. You have to be safe!"
"Dad, there's a parent-teacher conference next Friday afternoon. Will you be back by then?"
I frowned slightly, but still replied to Xuanxuan's message.
"I'll be home in a couple of days. Eat well."
After sending it, I opened the fourth unread message. The unknown number had only sent three words: "Still waiting?" I glanced again at the sleeping Xiao Liu beside me, then shifted my body to the other side and quickly replied: "Cut the fucking crap.
Stay hidden."
After doing all that, I put my phone away and slowly reclined my seat, preparing to take a short nap myself. The new car the team bought was pretty high-end. The seats were actually electric, reclining slowly, not like the old cars where they would suddenly fall back and you could sprain your back.
As for staking out Zhang Huanan... Don't be ridiculous. With me here, he would never show up.
I don't know how much time passed, but I was suddenly woken up by a violent shaking. I hurriedly opened my eyes and found Xiao Liu looking at me anxiously.
"Captain Li!! How did you fall asleep too?!"
"Huh?"
I was a bit dazed from just waking up. It took me a moment to understand what had happened.
"Oh... you're awake?"
"This is bad! Captain Li, we both fell asleep. What if that guy Zhang Huanan showed up?"
"It's fine, he can't have gotten away."
I rubbed my eyes and returned my seat to its upright position.
"He can't have gotten away?"
"Oh... I mean I just fell asleep. It couldn't be such a coincidence..."
"Sigh..."
Xiao Liu still looked worried. He slapped his cheeks hard and said, "I told myself I shouldn't have slept. This is terrible.
I messed up on my very first mission."
"It's alright, kid."
I patted his shoulder.
"If anything happens, I'll take the fall."
It was strange, but from that moment on, Xiao Liu seemed to be on steroids. He didn't close his eyes for two straight days. I slept several times in between, but every time I woke up, I saw Xiao Liu staring intently at the building across the street.
"Are you trying to die from overwork, kid?"
I asked, a little concerned.
"I'm awake now, you should sleep for a bit."
"No." Xiao Liu's dark circles were very heavy, and he looked haggard.
"Captain Li, I'm not resting this time no matter what. I have to wait until Zhang Huanan shows up."
Just then, my phone buzzed in my pocket again. Even for a Nokia 6300, the battery was about to die. I opened my phone and saw that guy Zhang Huanan had actually sent me another message.
I nonchalantly turned my body to the side, wanting to see what he had sent, but Xiao Liu suddenly asked from behind me, "Are there orders from the team?"
"Oh, no." I smiled, clutching the phone and trying to hide it.
"Not from the team? Then who sent it?" he asked, staring blankly at the phone in my hand.
I knew a normal person wouldn't ask such a rude question. Xiao Liu was a bit dazed from the long-term lack of sleep. Seeing him like this, a plan suddenly formed in my mind.
I reached into my pocket, moved the cigarettes from the pack into my pocket, and then took out the empty pack and waved it in front of his eyes.
"Xiao Liu, go buy a pack of cigarettes."
"Buy cigarettes? There are no convenience stores around here," he said, stunned for a moment.
"But I'm completely out."
I put the cigarette pack and my phone into my pocket and said to him, "If there are none nearby, then go a little further. We can't pull all-nighters without cigarettes. Besides, we're almost out of mineral water and bread in the car.
If it's convenient, buy some of that too." He thought blankly for a moment, then nodded and said, "Okay Captain Li, I'll be right back."